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In 1958, when New York State was considering raising its minimum wage, merchants complained that their profit margins were so small that they would have to cut their work forces or go out of business. In 2014 in Seattle at hearings on a proposed minimum wage increase, some businesses voiced the same fears.

Whether they are classified as traditional workers, independent contractors, or self-employed entrepreneurs, street vendors in recent years have been asserting their rights to a greater piece of the economic pie - or hot dog, as the case may be.

Betty Johnson changes the diaper on a boy she’s caring for. More than 300,000 California housekeepers, nannies, and personal attendants provide support and care to children, seniors, and people with disabilities, putting in long hours caring for an estimated two million households. With no overtime protections, they suffer exhaustion, and damage to their health and that of their clients, and can’t earn enough to pay their own bills. In a recent survey, 76 percent of domestic workers still reported working more than forty-five hours a week, with twenty-four-hour shifts being common.

Prices have fallen mainly because of a downturn in global demand from manufacturers, especially in China, pressure on supplies, and the increased use of substitutes, said Joe Pickard, chief economist and director of commodities at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.